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Show floor update: More than 500 people watched the 2014 Cadillac CTS unveiling at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center Tuesday evening on the eve of the New York International Auto Show. The new CTS rolled out with highly stylized front and rear ends and a much trimmer figure. Cadillac executives, engineers, and designers were excited about this reveal, as it completes the luxury brand’s lineup, offering contenders to the BMW 3 Series and 5 Series with the Cadillac ATS and new CTS.

Now that the Cadillac CTS has a baby brother to cover the 3 Series/C-Class market properly, it’s free to move up in size, style, and stature to confront the 5 Series/E-Class segment head on. To that end, Cadillac design director Mark Adams says his team was guided by “the three Ls: longer, lower, leaner.” Hence this third-generation car is lengthened by 5.0 inches, with only 1.1 inches of that in the wheelbase, and much of it in rear overhang. It’s also lowered by 0.8 inch, and thanks to extensive use of aluminum and savvier use of high-strength steel, the base car is 250 pounds lighter (V-6 models weigh around 175 pounds less) for a claimed best-in-class curb weight of 3600 pounds.

The impressive 7 percent weight savings is attributable to myriad savings, large and small. Cadillac’s first use of aluminum doors saves 55 pounds all around, while the 8-pound front bumper beam saves 13.1 pounds, and the rear suspension cradle drops from 69 to 54 lbs. Other tricks include tailoring the B-pillar sheetmetal thickness to vary from 1.4mm at the top to 1.9mm in the middle, scalloping away the metal in between the spot welds, and fitting aluminum brake calipers all around.

To ensure that the lighter weight makes the new CTS one of the most agile cars in its class, Cadillac equipped it with a longer-armed version of the ATS’ front suspension. It locates the front struts using separate arms that are bushed to isolate ride events (fore/aft) softly and handling ones (laterally) more rigidly. This new geometry (plus wheels with a 0.4-inch greater offset) help widen the front track by almost 1.9 inches (the wheels widen the rear track by 0.8 inch). Magnetic Ride Control will be offered for the first time on the base suspension (with upgraded 18-inch wheels — 17s are standard). All CTS models will get Brembo brakes all around, with an up-level package available on more performance-oriented versions.

The biggest news on the performance front is the addition of the new Vsport model, which corrals all the performance gear (18-inch staggered tires, 245 front/275 rear — optional 19s wear 255-series rubber all around), a quicker steering ratio (15.4:1 versus 16.5:1), larger front brakes (13.6 inch versus 12.6 inch), an electronic limited-slip differential, a track-rated engine-cooling package, and Cadillac’s spanking new direct-injected, twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V-6. Rated at 420 hp and 430 lb-ft, it’s GM’s most powerful V-6 ever, and we’re promised it will set a new benchmark for responsiveness thanks to the ultra-short trip the compressed air makes from the quick-spooling turbos, up through the manifold-mounted intercoolers, and down into the cylinders. Spinning through a new Aisin-Warner eight-speed automatic, the Vsport should be good for 0-60 times in the 4.6-second range, with stops from 60 taking fewer than 130 feet. The 2.0-liter turbo, naturally aspirated 3.6-liter V-6, and six-speed automatic will carry over; a new V-8-powered V model is expected later in the model run.

Exterior styling takes ATS cues and stretches them for a look that’s more muscular and upscale with longer rear doors and the rear window touch-down point moved aft. The new “landscape format” grille is wider and lower, and is flanked by lower-profile headlamps. Maintaining Cadillac’s vertical lighting signature are LED daytime running lights in the lower fascia that align with those flanking the slim headlamps. The hood shut-line is entirely on the horizontal surface, to simplify execution of the target 3mm panel gap (when that gap lands on a vertical surface, you need more gap for over-slam). The new lower hood passes current U.S. pedestrian-protection standards, but European regs require pyrotechnic hood hinges. Laser welding is used on the roof joint and deck lid.

Interior design manager Keith Fisher’s stated goal was to balance sport and luxury in a driver-focused cockpit. The result looks classy and will offer an unprecedented (for Cadillac) level of owner personalization, encompassing a range of eight interior color schemes, ranging from the standard black, tan, and grays (light and dark) and branching off into Twilight Blue and Moreno Red. Four choices of dash and door-panel trim are offered: an open-pour matte-finish walnut burl, a lighter ash burl, an anodized black aluminum (done in a dipping process that makes the panel black all the way through), and carbon-fiber. And the neat part: If you love the tan interior but would rather have the anodized black or carbon trim, the dealer will be able to swap it for you in 20 minutes. All interiors get machine stitching, several get suede trim, and the three extra-cost ones get semi-aniline leather. The rear seat is deeply bucketed to get heads down under that lower roof, but it fits normal-size adults fine.

We very much look forward to sampling the new CTS Vsport this summer, and to pitting it against its heavier, shorter rivals from southern Germany. Stay tuned.

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2014 Cadillac CTS News and Reviews

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